COURTHOUSE – Admitting that he would “die in prison regardless,” the confessed killer of Tyree Whiting cooperated with prosecutors in testifying against a co-conspirator on trial for murder in Montgomery County Court Wednesday morning.

Bruce “L.B.” Woods Jr., of Norristown, incarcerated and facing a sentence of 77 to 154 years behind bars for third-degree murder, took to the witness stand as prosecutors questioned him, during day three of the murder trial of Norristown’s Tyuan “Slim” Simon.

Peppered with questions from Assistant District Attorney Matthew Quigg, Woods confessed he was hired by Simon, 33, to kill Whiting. Simon is charged with first- second- and third-degree murder, criminal solicitation to commit murder, criminal conspiracy and related offenses, in connection with Whiting’s death.

“It’s the code of the streets,” said Woods. “A rat gotta die.”

Advertisement

Woods testified that he had about a five- to seven-minute conversation with Simon over beers at Uptown’s Roo House Tavern on Willow Street in Norristown on Oct. 19, 2010, the night Whiting was murdered.

“Sitting there, I could see his face change,” Woods said of Simon.

“He was all ‘balled up.’ I said, ‘what’s up?’ He said, ‘this rat (expletive).’ He was talking about Philly.”

“Philly,” prosecutors learned, was Whiting’s nickname on the streets. Since Monday, witnesses throughout the trial testified he was well-known around town by that name.

“Slim said he’s got a dime on his head. I said, ‘say no more. I’m going to handle that. I’m going to kill Philly for that money.’ If they a rat, they don’t deserve to live,” said Woods.

A “dime” is street slang for $10,000. Woods never got the money, though testimony at trial indicated he was paid a “down payment” in the form of pounds of marijuana, but was never paid in full.

Having an extensive criminal background of robbery, criminal conspiracy, firearms violations and several additional felony convictions as a juvenile, Woods appeared calm and straightforward on the witness stand, corroborating much information outlined in the Commonwealth’s affidavit.

Wednesday’s proceedings mark part of the culmination of a two-plus-years investigation into the murder of Whiting, where witnesses are mum and the “code of the street” is that “snitches” don’t live to tell all.

At the time the two allegedly agreed to the murder, Woods had already been armed with the handgun, a Ruger 9MM semiautomatic, which had been reported stolen from a woman in Norristown, just five days before the murder.

Woods testified that on the night of Whiting’s murder, he had been at the Roo House Tavern with several other locals, including Simon. After Simon told Woods he wanted Whiting dead, Woods said he waited outside the bar for Whiting to come out, around 10 p.m., and followed him up Willow Street towards Spruce Street.

“I pulled my gun out and went through his pockets,” said Woods.

“He handed me a baggie and some money, but I wasn’t there to rob him. I was there to kill him.”

Woods put two shots into Whiting as he began to flee, and when he caught up with him, he “emptied the clip” into him at close range, delivering the fatal barrage of bullets that ended his life.

“I fired until he stopped moving. I wanted to get the job done and collect the money,” said Woods.

Other witnesses who testified Wednesday described Norristown as “a vicious town,” where many longtime locals have decades-long ties to their community and one another, making the killing of Whiting all that more painful for some residents.

“If you’re not living in the world of violence, then you don’t know it,” said one witness.

As for motive, investigators say Simon was convinced Whiting was cooperating with police, sharing information which could incriminate Simon. Whiting and Simon also had been involved with the same female, Veronica Graham, and that the two were at odds over the woman. Graham testified in court Tuesday, telling the jury Simon called her his “alibi,” and that he went to her house directly after leaving the tavern that night.